Hose holder for separable fluid connection between vehicles



Nov. 25, 1958 c. a. GREESON 2,361,317

HOSE HOLDER FOR SEPARABLE FLUID CONNECTION BETWEEN VEHICLES OriginalFiled Sept. 29, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN V EN TOR.

TTORNEY Nov. 25, 1958 c. B. GREESON 2,861,817

HOSE HOLDER FbR SEPARABLE FLUID CONNECTION BETWEEN VEHICLES OriginalFiled Sept. 29, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 if o O o O J ATTORNEY UnitedStates Patent ()fiice 4 2,861,817 Patented Nov. .25, 1958 HOSE HOLDERFOR SEPARABLE FLUID CONNECTION BETWEEN VEHICLES Clarett B. Greeson,Rockford, Ill., assignor to J. I. Case Company, Racine, Wis., acorporation of Wisconsin Original application September 29, 1949, SerialNo. 118,644, now Patent No. 2,717,136, dated September 6, 19 55. Dividedand this application November 4, 1954, Serial No. 466,929

3 Claims. (Cl. 280-421 My invention relates to a device for preventingthe breakaway couplings on hydraulically equipped vehicles fromcontacting the ground when the vehicles suddenly become separated. Myinvention further relates to a device wherein the slack of the hydraulicconduits or hoses of hydraulically equipped vehicles is taken up anddamage resulting from dragging the conduits is substantially lessened.

This application is a division of my application Serial No. 118,644,filed September 29, 1949, issued as Patent No. 2,717,136 on September 6,1955.

Valved break-away couplings of the type which commonly include a maleconnecting member and a female connecting member which are adapted to bereleasably interengaged with one another, each of the members beingadapted to be attached to a separate fluid conduit, are particularlyuseful in hydraulic systems in which the members frequently areconnected and disconnected, as for example in the hydraulic systemswhich extend between coupled vehicles, wherein a hydraulic pressure unitin one vehicle is attached to operate on hydraulically actuated deviceson other vehicles. If, due to striking an obstruction, or for any otherreasons, the two vehicles suddenly become separated, one member of thebreakaway coupling is pulled away from the other member thereby stoppingthe flow of pressure between the two vehicles and, as in farm machines,allowing one of the coupling members to drop to the ground. Because ofthe nature of these break-away couplings, and the function which theyperform, it is of vital importance for the effective operation of thesehydraulic systems that dirt and similar substances do not enter into thecouplings and thereby gain access to the hydraulic system.

It is therefore a primary object of my invention to .provide a devicewhich will prevent the coupling members from contacting the ground whenthe hydraulically connected vehicles suddenly become separated.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a hose support deviceof simple construction and operation and which exerts no undue force onthe hose of the breakaway couplings when the vehicles are in motion overrough terrain.

It is a still further object of my invention to provide a Fig. 1 is aright-side elevational view of my invention employed on an implementwhich is drawn by a tractor.

Fig. 2 is a right-side elevational view of my invention showing theposition of my invention when the implement suddenly becomes separatedfrom the tractor.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1 with partsremoved.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the gripping means with theconduit partly held thereby.

As seen in Fig. 1 of the drawings, a tractor 10, only the rear portionof which is shown, is connected to a vehicle or implement 11, only thefront portion of which is shown, by a spring break-away hitch 9, ofwell-known construction forming part of the forward extremity of thedraw-bar 8 of the implement 11. A hydraulic system 12 extends betweenthe tractor 10 and the implement 11, wherein a hydraulic pressure unitof the tractor 10, of well-known construction not shown in the drawings,is adapted to operate a hydraulic ram 13, on the implement 11, onlypartly shown on the drawings. Valved breakaway couplings 14, of commonand well-known type, comprising in the present instance female members15 and male members 16, which members are releasably interengaged withone another, are attached to separate flexible conduits 17, 18, 19 and20. It will be seen in Fig. 1 that the flexible conduits 17 and 18connect in the present instance the hydraulic pressure unit of thetractor 10 to the female member 15 of the hydraulic couplings 14, whichmembers are secured to the tractor it) by means of bifurcated supportingbrackets 21 and upper and lower clamp segments 22 and 22a. Flexibleconduits 19. and 20 in the present instance connect the hydraulic ram 13of the implement 11 to the male members 16 of the hydraulic couplings14. It should be clear that when the coupling members 15 and 16 areinterengageably connected, the pressure from. the hydraulic pressureunit of the tractor 10 can flow through the hose clamping means whichwhile securely holding the hose as far as longitudinal movement isconcerned, does not require any bolts, or other types of adjustments.

Yet another object of my invention is to provide a hose supportingdevice which is simply and economically manufactured, and which isdurable and performs its functions in a highly efficient manner.

A hose supporting device embodying the preferred form of my invention isshown in the accompanying drawings wherein:

continuous conduits 17 and 20 or the continuous conduits 18 and 19 tothe hydraulic ram 13 of the implement 11.

A hose supporting device, generally designated 23, is swivelly securedin the present instance to the drawbar 8 of the implement 11 and extendsforwardly and upwardly. The hose supporting device 23 comprises aforwardly extending support arm 24, pivotally secured adjacent itsrearward extremity to a plate 25 as by a bolt or any other suitablemeans 26.

Adjacent the forward extremity of the inclining arm 24 are secured apair of helical coils or gripping means 27 and 28. The conduits 19 and20 are frictionally held by the helical coils, as far as movinglongitudinally through said coils is concerned, by making the insidediameter of the coils 27 and 28 of slightly smaller diameter than theoutside diameter of the flexible conduits 19 and 2%), while making thelongitudinal spacing between the separate convolutions enough greaterthan the diameter of said flexible conduits so that the latter can beintroduced into the clamps by a wrapping or winding operation asillustrated in Fig. 4. It should be appreciated that these coils 27 and28 provide a very efficient and economical clamping means for theconduits 19 and 20 requiring no adjustment nuts or springs and allowingthe operator to easily release the conduits from the coils by simplyunwinding the conduits from the inside of the coils. Since the insidediameter of the coils 27 and 28 is slightly smaller than the outsidediameter of the conduits 19 and 20, they press gently into the surfacesof the resilient material of the conduits, and longitudinal 'or slidingmovement of the conduits through the spirals can be etfected, if at all,only with great difficulty, while the wear which ordinarily results whenflexible conduits are secured against moving longitudinally by means ofbolts, springs, or other means, is virtually eliminated and theeffective life of these conduits is greatly increased.

For lifting the conduits at such times as the vehicles become separated,a spring 29 is interposed between the plate 25 and the support arm 24 topull upwardly so that the moment of the force exerted by the spring 29about the pivot bolt 26 of the support arm 24 is virtually at any pointin the arc of travel of the inclining arm about the bolt 26, onlyslightly greater than the moment of the force exerted by the combinedweights of the inclined arm 24 and the flexible conduits 19 and 20 aboutthe pivot bolt 26. This is accomplished as can be seen in Figs. 1 and 2by positioning the spring 29 between the support arm 24 and the plate 25so that .the effective leverage of the spring 29 upon the pivot bolt 26of the arm 24 increases as the force of the spring 29 decreases.

The plate 25 is secured to the upper extremity of a swivel bracket orstandard 30 by means of a bolt or other suitable means 31. Swivelbracket 30 has a horizontally directed portion 32 which is provided witha hole 32a to accommodate a vertical pivot and holding assembly forbracket 30. The pivot and holding assembly comprises a holding bar 33placed in the present instance upon the drawbar 8. A hook bolt 34 passesthrough holes 33a and 33b formed in the holding bar 33 and hole 32a ofthe bracket 30 to provide a clamp about the drawbar 8 of the implement.A spacer sleeve 35 is positioned between a nut 36 of the hook bolt 34and the upper surface of the holding bar 33, and is slightly longer thanthe thickness of the horizontally directed portion 32 of the swivelbracket 30, thereby allowing the nut 36 and a nut 37 to be firmlytightened securing thereby the swivel bracket 30 and the holding bar 33to the drawbar 8 but still allowing the swivel bracket 30 to turn freelyin the horizontal plane upon the holding bar 33. Because of this freedomof movement in the horizontal plane as well as in the vertical plane, ashas already been described, no undue forces are exerted on the conduits19 and 2.0 or on the break-away couplings 14 as the implement 11 isdrawn over irregular terrain of travel of the implement 11.

The moment of the force exerted by the spring 29 about the pivot bolt 26of the support arm 24 can be by pivoting the plate in one direction, thespring 29 is lengthened whereas, by pivoting the plate in the otherdirection the spring is shortened. By lengthening the spring 29 themoment of force exerted by the spring 29 upon the arm is increasedthereby tending to swing the arm 24. upwardly about the pivot bolt 26.When the correct spring length is found, the bolts 31 and 39 may betightened thereby holding the plate 25 to the swivel bracket 30.

In the operation of this hose holding device the hoses 19 and 20 aresecurely held by the helical coils 27 and 28 of the support arm 24. Thesupport arm, due to the greater moment of force as exerted by the spring29 and as already fully explained, pivots the arm upwardly retained bythe forward portion of the conduits 19 and 20 extending from the helicalcoil 27 and 28 to the couplings 14. The force exerted by the spring 29upon the .arm 24 is not sufiicient to disengage the break-away couplings14 when the members of the couplings are interengaged. When the springbreak hitch 9 of the implement llreleases the tractor 10, as for examplewhenthe implement strikes an obstruction, the conduits come under by thetractor 10 or as the tractor 10 changes the direction tension, and sincethe break-away couplings 14 require only a moderate force to becomedisengaged, the coupling members 16 are pulled out of the couplingmembers 15 interrupting the flow of fluid through the flexible conduits17, 18, 19 and 20. When the coupling members 15 become disengaged fromthe coupling members 16, the support arm 24 is immediately swungupwardly about the pivot bolt 26 by the force of the spring 29. Byadjusting the plate 25 along the slot 38, the upward swing of the arm 24can be increased or decreased. Since the conduits 19 and 20 areprevented from moving longitudinally by the clamping means 27 and 28 asalready described, the coupling members 16 are carried upwardly by thearm 24 thereby preventing the danger of dirt and similar material fromadhering to the coupling members 16 and possibly entering the hydraulicsystem.

Various modifications and improvements within the spirit of my inventionwill doubtless occur to those skilled in the art from the disclosureherein given, and hence I do not wish to be limited to the particularconstruction shown or uses mentioned except to the extent that myinvention is defined in the appended claims, which are to be interpretedas broadly as is consistent with the state of the art.

I claim:

1. For use with a propelling vehicle unit and a trailing unitinterconnected for forward travel in unison by means including aseparable hitch, wherein the propelling vehicle and the trailing unitrespectively have fluid devices spaced apart longitudinally when thepropelling vehicle and unit are normally hitched and wherein the fluiddevices are interconnected by a flexible fluid transmitting conduit thatis connected to the propelling vehicle fluid device by a coupling thatis separable in response to the application of excessive forces thereto,as when the hitch separates and the propelling vehicle continues aheadwithout the trailing unit; the combination of said flexible fluidtransmitting conduit, said conduit having a homogeneous resilientrubber-like outer wall, and a conduit carrier comprising an elongatedmember having at one end thereof means for supporting it to extendupwardly to a second end portion intermediate the fluid devices, andsaid elongated member having afl'ixed thereto a substantially rigidhelix, having an internal diameter slightly smaller than the externaldiameter of the hose so as to press gently into the external surface ofsaid yieldable outer wall sufficiently to secure said hose against axialmovement in said helix, whereby suflicient pull may be exerted on saidhose by said helix to cause disconnection of said separable coupling.

2. A hose holder for use with a tractor implement combination of thetype in Which the implement may become detached from the tractor but inwhich it is necessary to provide a fluid pressure connection between thetwo, separable without damage by a substantial pull on the hoseresulting from such disconnection; said holder comprising a plurality ofsubstantially rigid helical axially aligned coils defining a cylinder,said coils being spaced axially to an extent sufliciently greater thanthe outside diameter of the hose that the latter may be introduced intosaid cylinder by a wrapping motion, and said cylinder having an internaldiameter slightly less than the external diameter of a hose to be heldin the holder so as to bite into the resilient surface of said hosewhereby, by virtue of the resilient character of said surface, saidhelix will grip said hosewith a large resistance to axial slidingthereof through said cylinder.

3. A hose holder for use with a tractor implement combination of thetype in which the implement may become detached from the tractor but inwhich it is necessary to provide a fluid pressure connection between thetwo, separable without damage by a substantial pull resulting from suchdisconnection; the combination of a hose hav- 5 capable of bending intoa curve of predetermined sharpness a substantially rigid helix having aninternal diameter slightly smaller than said predetermined externaldiameter so as to press gently into said yieldable outer wallsubstantially continuously along the length of said helix, for thepurpose of preventing axial movement of said hose within said helix whensaid hose is straight within said helix, and the pitch of said helixbeing sufliciently long to provde a space between the convolutionsthereof suificient to admit said hose between any two successiveconvolutions of said helix when said hose is held within any remainingconvolutions of said helix and bent into said curve of predeterminedsharpness, whereby said hose may be introduced into said helix by awrapping motion between the successive convolutions of said helix, thegrip of said helix as a result of its gentle pressure on said yieldableouter wall effecting a large resistance against axial sliding of saidhose through said helix, whereby sufiicient pull may be exerted on saidhose by said helix to cause disconnetcion of said fluid connection.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS750,782 Ramsey June 26, 1904 1,644,661 Aufenast Oct. 11, 1927 2,171,761Paradise Sept. 5, 1939 2,215,292 Koscierzyna Sept. 17, 1940 2,619,888Young Dec. 2, 1952 2,673,093 Silver Mar. 23, 1954 2,717,136 GreesonSept. 6, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 106,092 Australia Dec. 22, 1938

